Wishes, dreams and Nightmares: Spinoff of TPCBTB and TWC
by Nutcase friend
Summary: To understand this fully, you will have to read "The past Comes back to bite." When Buck finds a strange and twisted creature bleeding in a river, everything in the Dinoworld changes. What happens when Regal sees a new target, and is angered that it befriends his enemy Buck? Will the presence of this creature be an advantage, or a curse. *This all happens in Buck's dreams*
1. Chapter 1

_This my friends, is where we go right back. RIIIIIIIIIGHT back. All the way back to the beginning_

It wasn't a stormy night. Not even a dark or windy night. It was a still, quiet night, with no disturbances. Many, many miles away, Diego, Shira, Manny, Ellie, Granny, Sid, and Peaches, slept peacefully in their separate dens. Under the ice, Buck slept fitfully in a tree, Lucy slept in her chamber, and Regal slept in someone else's bed.

And the night erupted in men's cries and wolves' barks.

A bush exploded in leaves and snow, and from it appeared the strangest looking creature. With back legs shorter than its front, and spots covering its mud coloured body. It had blood streaming from multiple wounds and was panicking. It could hear the wolves behind it, but feared most the men.

Her coat was thick and she knew that humans desired thick coats to make their shelters and coverings from.

She was tiring. The wounds and the long chase were wearing her out, to the point where she was almost stumbling.

She couldn't hide. The wolves could catch her scent.

She couldn't run for much longer. They'd catch her soon enough.

She couldn't. She couldn't she couldn't.

She leapt over dome frosted rocks, and stumbled through a freezing cold river. She crashed through another bush, and had to avoid a head-on collision with a tree. Her night vision was good, but in her fear she wouldn't have been able to see anything clearly, even in bright daylight.  
So through all this terror and fright, you can imagine how it wouldn't be a surprise, actually, almost a relief, when the ice cracked and rumbled beneath her paws, and she fell through the ice in a flash.


	2. Chapter 1 Fallen angel

Buck woke in the grey light of the early morning, his body and mind aching from a rare bad night's sleep. But where other creatures would ignore the dawn, and sleep in, Buck knew he couldn't stay in the branch and doze all day. So after a small moment of contemplating, Buck stood up, did a stretch, then grabbed his knife and slipped down the trunk of the tree.

He decided to save energy and walk in the denser jungle, so he didn't have to worry about too many dinosaurs taking him by surprise. It was a strangely quiet day, but nothing suspicious. Just calm.

Buck lazily strolled towards a nearby river, thankful that it wasn't a particularly dangerous season to be around the water. During mating seasons, trying to get a drink was a dangerous effort. Males of every kind of dinosaur fought over the females, crashing in the shallows, head to head, neck and neck or hide and hide. The air would be shuddering with deep warbles from horned dinosaurs or hisses from the small carnivores.

Buck picked some fruits along the way, small blackberries off the prickly bushes, and ate them while he made his way along. It was a temperate day too. Not to hot or cold, just a still even warmth that relaxed the mind. In his tired state, Buck wasn't too keen on fighting anything on this day. If the wind was up, perhaps, or if the rain was lashing at his face and into his remaining eye. But he found it difficult to raise his energy when the world was so still.

When Buck reached the river, it was flowing almost silently, and the light started to filter through the ice above. He made his way to the water, deciding that at least a swim should wake him up a bit.

He slipped into the water, and let instincts take over. He swam like his cousins the otters, gliding and cutting through the water with his slim body. He passed over rocks and under logs, until the shore ground rose again.

He crawled onto the bank, feeling better. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ice roof above him. He wondered how the herd was doing. Hopefully nothing too exciting, otherwise Buck would be missing out.  
Rudy hadn't been around for a few months. He'd been off further to the east then Buck cared to go right now. It was a tender time to leave, with Regal so worked up over Buck's presence. Buck, as usual, was worried about Lucy, and didn't want to leave when Regal was so close to the edge of losing it.

Buck could feel his chest knotting up with the thought of regal, in frustration and anger, so he decided to swim again, to try and think of something, anything, other than regal and Lucy.

Buck slipped into the water again, this time twirling and twisting, smiling to himself underwater as he did so. He wished Dwain was here with him, so they could play some water games or something.

Just as Buck decided he should head back up, and maybe lounge in the warmth, he spotted a dark opening just above the water. Not recognising it, Buck grew curious. There was very few places around here that Buck didn't know, and he felt a knew jolt of energy in his excitement. Maybe it was another jewel cave, and he could bring back some for Lucy.

Buck popped his head out of the water. Before him was a cave entrance, similar to one at the stream further to the west, but this one was smaller. Buck swam back to where he'd left his knife, then returned. He crawled onto the bank, which was moist from the tide.  
 _  
No dinosaurs would live in a wet cave,_ Buck thought, _the constant water gives 'em foot rot._ With that thought, Buck knew it was relatively safe to go in.  
It was a dark passage, small, but big enough perhaps for a tiger or wolf to get out. Buck held his knife out in front of him. He could see relatively well, but you could never be sure. It went for ages, dipping up and down slightly, but nothing too drastic. Eventually, it opened up to a small chamber.  
It might have been dark before, secluded underground, but there was a hole in the roof that led to the surface, only about three metres off the ground, that let in the outside light. However barely. Twigs, vines and branches were hanging over the edge, and rock fragments lie on the sand all around the opening.

Buck froze.

What he'd originally thought was a particularly large rock fragment turned out to be…furry. The light from above filtered in only a bit, but it reflected off the individual hairs.

It wasn't moving, and only now the scent of blood came to Buck's nose.

Gripping his knife tighter, Buck moved forward. He hadn't wanted a fight today, and this creature was obviously injured. It had patches of brown fur, and the occasional stripe or spot. Buck didn't recognise what scent it was, and this only furthered his curiosity. He reached the giant furry ball, only just realising how big it was. It must have been the back facing him, because a short and bushy tail lay to his right, as still as the rest of it. He made his way around the front, knowing it would be easier to avoid an attack if he could see it coming.

Once he reached the other side, the site was frightening, exciting and strangely beautiful. It looked like a wolf, but was heavier set and had shorter back legs.

It still wasn't moving.

Buck moved closer, still wired to spring away if he needed to. He moved the fringe away from its eyes, finding them to be closed. He lifted the lip, noting the saber-teeth. He then moved down the body, seeing the large gashes and cuts, and wandered as to how it had gotten this, knowing that the fall couldn't have done this kind of surface damage.

He almost jumped out of his fur when the chest moved, and the body shuddered. He moved back to the head quickly, and lifted the eye lid. The iris moved and looked at him, and Buck was startled to find they were the same colour as his own, a rare sapphire blue. Whatever it was, it was still alive, but it might not be if Buck didn't get some help.

"Can you move?" Buck asked it. Its eye closed, and gave a great breath. It had fallen unconscious again.  
That was it.

Buck rushed to the passage, went along it carelessly, and almost tripped a few times. Once he reached the outside of the cavern, he left a huge scratch on a tree that sat nearby, and did this on many of the trees until he reached a recognisable path. He wanted to make _certain_ that he could find this place again.  
After that, he scaled a tree and grabbed a vine, and swung as fast as he could, almost running into trees in his haste. The village was a saving grace when he spotted it. He landed, and immediately made his way to Lucy's burrow. The day was only just beginning, but he prayed Lucy would be awake. He rushed into her burrow without a second thought, and made his way along to her chamber.  
 _  
Please, please, PLEASE be awake,_ he prayed.

He didn't have to go all the way to her chamber, however. He ran into her and Regal half-way.

"Buck," Lucy said, surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"I need your help." Buck panted, ignoring Regal's glares. "I found somethin', like a wolf, an' its hurt real bad. You need to come with me, or it migh' die."

"Hold on," Regal interrupted, "Why would you care? It's just another thing that's fallen in."

" _Shut it_ Regal." Buck snapped, and Regal's ears dropped in anger. Buck prepared for another fight with this red weasel, but Lucy interrupted them loudly.

"Guys!" they both looked at her. "Buck, I'll go with you. I just need to grab some stuff."  
She rushed away to her chamber, leaving Buck and Regal alone in the passage.

"If anything happens to her-," Regal started, but Buck stopped him.

"Nothin' will happen to 'er. You forget, Red, I care about 'er too."  
They glared at each other for a moment, then looked away.  
Buck was seething with impatience and worry, and couldn't deal with Regal right now. So it was a saving sight when Lucy reappeared, a bag slung over her shoulder.

"Let's go," Buck said, shot one last glance at regal, then led Lucy out.

"Do you have any idea how bad it might be?" Lucy asked, as they made their way to the dense jungle.

"I couldn't tell much. There was gashes, _huge_ gashes, bu' no majorly broken limbs t' my eyes. Sorry, eye."  
When they reached a spot with decent vines, Buck and Lucy grabbed onto one each, and started their journey, Lucy following behind a cautiously moving Buck.  
When Buck spotted the first slash across a tree, he motioned for them to land.

"I thought you didn't like hurting the trees." Lucy said when she landed.

"It's a shallow cut. Besides, it's for a good cause." Buck replied. _Hopefully._  
He spotted another cut tree, and made his way to it, until they were following the cut trees all the way to the river.

"There's your tracks from earlier." Lucy said almost immediately after they came from the jungle onto the sandy river shore.  
Buck smiled at her. "You're learnin'. Now come on, it's this way."  
The passage seemed a lot longer when you were anticipating the end of it. Buck could feel his heart beating faster, hoping to all heavens or all hells that whatever it was, it was still alive.  
Lucy groaned when they finally reached the open cavern. "It's stinks of blood in here." She said, wiping at her nose as if to rid of the scent. Buck mad made his way over to the creature, and knelt next to its muzzle. Lucy seemed to recognise it was a creature then, and gasped.

"What is it?" She asked, approaching slowly.

"I dunno, but it's hur', an' that's all that matters. Can you help?" Buck instinctively put his paw on the creature's muzzle, strangely not fearing it at all. Lucy walked around the body, inspecting it. She lifted its paws one by one, then Buck helped her to lift the legs. She did it all silently, her persona changing as she concentrated.  
The creature didn't move the whole time, just the slight rise and fall of its chest and sides, signalling at least that it was still breathing.

So it was a shock, when Lucy started to say something, then its head shifted. Buck and Lucy jumped back, Buck holding his knife in front of them.  
A deep rumble filled the cave, echoing off the walls. The creatures blue eyes opened, and it shifted its head the slightest bit, to look at where Buck and Lucy stood only feet away. If it had the energy, it could have leapt up and bit them both in half, but Buck suspected that it lacked that energy.  
The creature huffed, the breath kicking up dust and leaves in front of it. Lucy stepped forward, and grabbed her arm.

"It's not going to hurt me." She said confidently.  
Buck looked at her sceptically, unsure, then gave in with a sigh, and released her arm. Lucy walked forward to the side of the head, Buck right next to her. Even though it was potentially dangerous, and looked it too, it didn't have that air about it. Maybe because it was injured, weak, or possibly because it legitimately wasn't interested in hurting them. Buck wasn't sure.

"Hi, I'm Lucy and this is Buck," Said Lucy to the creature, "Can you speak?"  
The pause was long, but eventually the creature nodded.

"Do you have a name?"  
The creature tried shifting its head in the other direction, but only met ground.

"No?"  
Another nod. The hair on the back of Buck's neck stood up. No name? What kind of creature had no name?

"Will you let me heal you? I think you only have some broken ribs, but not majorly. Will you let me stitch your cuts?"  
The creature didn't move its head apart from closing its eye again, but shifted its legs, seemingly to make room for Lucy to get at the neck, where one of the largest cuts were, huge and deep, almost as long as Buck's tail and possible as deep as his knife handle.  
Lucy looked at it, then moved to the neck. Buck let her get closer, and instead, watched the creature closely. He approached its muzzle again, and placed his paw under the eye gently. It flinched slightly, but then relaxed, and opened its eye.  
 _What are you?_ Buck wanted to say. _Where do you come from? How come you don't have a name?_ But instead he just stared at it, and it stared right back.  
It suddenly raised its head and gave a yelp-like bark.

"Sorry," Lucy said, "But I have to stitch this up."  
The creature growled, but then put its head back down.

"Don' hurt her. She's only trying t' help." Buck said.  
The creature smiled. "What would you do if I did?" it asked, in a husked voice. Buck was surprised at the sounds of its voice, but recognized the joke in her tone. _Her._

 _It's a her.  
_  
"I've got a knife an' more energy than you righ' now." Buck said, smiling, and twirled his knife in his paw.

"Speaking of your knife, Buck, I'm going to need it." Lucy said from the neck.

"Why?" Buck asked, looking worriedly at the animal.

"If it is okay with you," Lucy said to her, coming around to the front, "I need to cut away the fur at the edges of the cuts. It going to make it a lot easier to clean, stitch and heal."  
The creature shrugged with a flinch and said weakly, "Do it. I'm already freaky looking. What's patches of missing fur to do?"  
Lucy nodded, so Buck handed his knife to her, then she asked him to go get some water and something to hold it in. Buck returned with a shabby quick made wooden bowl filled with water, then once he'd given it to Lucy, went back to Beast. He decided that staying with this creature would be a good idea. So he sat down next to her huge cheek.

"So you don' 'ave a name?" he asked.  
She shook her head. "But the pack of wolves that lived near me always called me Beast."

"Beast? That's a bit harsh isn' i'?"

"Well I've always thought it had a ring to it." She said with a tired smile. Buck smiled back.

"Is it okay if I call you tha' then?"

"I'm past the point of taking offense to it. Sure."

"Well, Beast," came Lucy's voice back from Beast's side, "Brace yourself, this is going to hurt."

It took until midday to cut away the fur around the cuts, and there was a lot more than Buck had first predicted. After the first two hours, of whining and barking and balking, Beast eventually fell silent, then an hour later fell unconscious again. Buck up to that point had been having amazing conversations with her, (occasionally going to get more water for Lucy), trying to convince Beast that she'd fallen underground into a world full of dinosaurs, and she tried to convince him he was a crazy idiot. Many times Buck had tried getting Lucy in on the fun, (because they were laughing the whole damn time, Beast flinching and yelping occasionally) but she was far too much into her work. Beast challenged Buck to an arm wrestle, and he obviously lost, but it was good fun to her to see Buck struggle.  
But when she fell unconscious again, it grew quiet. She occasionally kicked or whined in her sleep from Lucy's needle going in and out of her thick and leathery skin, but then once again would fall silent.

Buck leaned against her thickly muscled shoulder, almost swallowed by the thick coat. It was comfortable, and not just externally. Buck felt a strange calm around Beast. She was a confusing and sophisticated animal, but her humorous attitude towards things said more than she probably knew. Buck found himself liking her the more he talked with her, and even when she slept, he felt he wanted to be around her when she woke once more.  
Buck's belly had started to rumble when Lucy wiped blood from her paws and said quietly with a smile,

"Done."

"Will she be alrigh'?" Buck asked.  
Lucy looked at him in a strange way, with a strange smile.

"Wha'?" he hissed.

"She'll be fine but… you've grown quite attached, haven't you?" she teased, pinching his arm.  
Buck shoved her lightly. "Well haven' you? She migh' be useful you know."  
Lucy grinned. "Yeah, I like her. And we'll need to keep her close so I can check on her constantly, until we can cut these stitches out."

"I can wait for 'er t' wake up, bu' you should probably ge' back t' Regal."

"Mm, you're right. He's probably worried about me."

"I can get you back." Buck said, and went to clean his knife, but Lucy put her paw on his arm.

"It's okay. I can get myself back."

Buck gazed at her tenderly. "Okay. An' Lucy, I really appreciate this."

"It's fine. This was fun. Besides, I think Regal was going to take me around to another hunters' gang party." Lucy stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes. Buck laughed, then led her out the passage. When they reached the moist sand, Buck knew they were near the river.  
They both blinked when they came into the bright light, and Buck realised then how gloomy the cavern had been.

"Okay," Lucy said, "So when she wakes up, take her to swim in the river. She needs to wash those wounds properly, and it'll make her feel better. Then come near the village. We'll have to find her a place to sleep and stay until she's healed properly. And make sure she eats-,"

"Lucy," Buck snapped good-heartedly, and gave a chuckle when she stopped, "It's okay, I got i'. I'll let you know when I've got her a place to stay. Now go, or Regal will 'ave my head."

Lucy grinned. "Fine." She kissed Buck on the cheek. "I'll seeya when I seeya."  
Buck waved her off, then once he lost sight of her among vegetation, immediately turned and went back to Beast in the cavern. When he returned, she was still asleep, but it wasn't the deep unconscious kind. Instead she was sleeping evenly, and Buck took comfort in that. He didn't want her slipping into a coma.  
Buck decided it was safe enough to slip out again and catch himself some fish, then gorge on some fruits.  
He had just flicked the pip of a nectarine away, when he heard the grumble in the sky. He looked up, and almost slapped himself when he saw the clouds.  
They were to the east, but they must have been moving incredibly fast for Buck not have noticed them before.

"Summer, do ya have t' do this _right_ now?" Buck asked the sky with a groan, but all he got in return was a distant flash of lightning. Cursing, Buck quickly scaled down the tree. He'd been planning to catch and cook some larger and more fish for Beast, but it would have to wait. He had to get her away from that opening and onto higher ground, or she'd catch a flu or something worse while her immune system was already down.  
Buck rushed along the passage once more. If he had more time, he could have just covered the hole in the roof of the cavern, for it wasn't that big, but he didn't have that time, so he'd just have to get Beast awake.  
She'd rolled onto her belly from her side, meaning she wasn't in a coma or in a very heavy sleep.

"Beast!" Buck called, without hesitating. He'd have to get her awake somehow. He ran to her, and immediately shook her cheek.

"Beast! Beast wake up, please." Buck pleaded.  
Beast lifted her head immediately, and yawned, her huge teeth scraping against her bottom teeth.

"Buck? What's going on?"

"Ya need t' move, now. There's a storm comin', an' we have t' ge' you under better cover." Buck started pushing at her uninjured shoulder.

"Okay, jeez, give me a minute." Beast yawned again, then her body started shifting, and she began to rise. She was growling as she did though, her lips pulled back into a snarl as she rose to her feet painfully. Buck searched around the cave for higher ground, and found it on the other side, furthest from the entrance he usually used to get in. The ground rose to a small plateau, just big enough to fit Beast and Buck.

"Hey. Can you get up 'ere?" Buck said, popping his head over the edge of the plateau.  
Beast rose her heavy set head and looked at him.

"I should," She groaned. Her eyes widened when some thunder cracked over-head, and Buck wasn't surprised at the fact that it was almost directly overhead. "Okay, that ledge is starting to look like a good idea." Beast said.  
She scrambled up the dirt and rocks, grunting and growling, until she pulled herself up. Buck only realised then just how strange she was. Her back sloped downwards and she was a sturdy build.

"No wonder they called ya Beast. You're bloody weird aren' ya?" Buck said with a snort.

"Says the bastard weasel with one eye." Beast growled with humour. She eventually settled down onto the ledge, whining a little as she went, just as a ghastly wind ripped into the roof of the cave, and the rain started pattering onto the rocks and sand below the gap.  
Beast shuddered, and curled up tight.

"Sorry about this. Usually the weathers warmer, bu' we're unlucky today. By the sounds of I', it'll last all nigh'. You migh' as well get some more sleep." Buck said. Beast  
rumbled a laugh.

"You should to. Just sleep under my neck for the night so you don't freeze your tail off." She said.

"Thanks." Buck said cheerfully. Beast shifted a bit to let him between her thick neck and her thick legs. Buck slid between them and curled up under the cave, and immediately felt the temperature change.

"Night, ya creepy little Beast." Said Buck.

"Little? That missing eye of yours is worse than I thought." Japed Beast.

"Good nigh'!"

"Will it be good though?"

"Shut up an' go to sleep."

"Yes _sir._ "  
They fell asleep just as the rain got heavier, the lightning flooded the jungle with white light and the thunder drowned every other sound, but protected, warm and dry, the weasel and beast slept better than any other creature in the Below-ground world.


	3. Chapter 2 False sense of sanity

The silence must have been what woke Buck, and for the first time in years, Buck didn't want to get up. It was warm and soft where he laid, and this was more comfortable than he'd been in a while. But alas, Buck knew he couldn't stay there for very long.  
He opened his eye and blinked at the light coming in through the gap under Beast's neck. He then cracked his neck, and started to clamber out of the space between Beast's chest and neck.

Beast must have been woken by Buck's movement, because her eye opened not so long afterwards.

"Mornin' Beasty." Buck said, stretching his back.

Beast gave a rumble in her throat in response. Buck looked at her curiously.

"You okay Beast?" he asked, moving closer to her eye. It was a duller blue than usual, and she had bags under them. Again, Beast simply grunted.

It was only then that Buck's nose twitched with a sick and gruesome smell. Buck made his way to the wounds that Lucy had patched up, and his heart dropped.  
A foul smell was coming from them, and they were weeping pus, tainted a yellow colour, and the flesh of the wounds were swollen twice the size and flaming red.

"God's help us," Buck muttered, then said to Beast, "we've got t' ge' you to Lucy. This has gotten so much worse." Buck reached out to touch one of the wounds, then decided against it.  
 _  
No wonder I was so damn warm last night. She's radiatin' enough heat t' cook an egg,_ Buck thought with a cringe.  
When Beast didn't move, Buck rushed to an un-injured part of her body, and started shoving her urgently.

"Get up! We've gotta go, or ya gonna die." Buck shoved harder this time, and Beast raised her head, no doubt more in irritation than motivation. After some more determined shoving, hauling, pulling and threatening, Beast finally groaned again, and started to rise. It was a shaky start, with her legs trembling with the effort of working after so long of being out of action. Then there was the obstacle of the hill. It had been the thing to keep them dry all night, but now it was a curse. Beast tried to take it slow, placing one paw patiently (or painfully, Buck couldn't tell), in front of the other. She was about half-way down when the dirt underneath her paw gave way, and she slipped. She gave a yelp as she tumbled forward.

In an unlucky form of luck, she rolled to her feet at the bottom, and stumbled, but stayed up. She trembled, and was about to lie down again, but Buck had slid down the slope after her and was underneath her belly in a second, pushing on the bottom of her ribcage upwards.

"Don't make me add to tha' collection of cuts, Beast. I've got a knife, an' I'm not afraid to use it." He growled as he pushed.  
Beast let out a huge huff, then straightened her back, and shook, then continued forward.

The trip through the tunnel was treacherous because of the low visibility and the jutting rocks and roots. After they broke through however, blinking in the sudden light, the trip was easier. It was a fair way to the village, and Buck considered rushing forward and getting Lucy, then returning, but pushed that idea away. He was determined not to leave Beast. At this point, she had also grown determined and stubborn. Whenever Buck asked if she wanted a break, she'd shake her head and growl.

So she hobbled along while Buck walked beside her. If she fell, he wouldn't be able to do much about it, because she'd squash him like a berry, but he _could_ keep her going if need be. It took an hour or more, but eventually signs of the village started to appear, and Buck was once again relieved at the sight. He wasn't sure how long Beast could go how she was, because she'd slowed down more and more the further they got.  
Buck and Beast had slept in more than usual, so when they entered the village, many weasels were awake. They stared as Buck passed, and a small crowd had started to form by the time Buck and Beast reached the outside of Lucy's burrow.

"Wait 'ere," Buck said to Beast, "and try t' stay standing."  
Buck disappeared inside the burrow, and Beast considered disobeying and flopping to the ground, but decided that sitting on her haunches would be a better idea. She tried doing it without falling over, and managed to succeed, but it put some of her wounds on her hind legs in the dirt, which made her cringe.

A small kit made its way up to her carefully, staring with large, curious eye. Beast managed a small smile, but the kit stared at her saber-teeth. It then approached closer, and only then seemed to notice the wounds, and thus looked at Beast with concern. Beast didn't try and explain anything. She couldn't waste the energy. Lucy might want her to get up and move somewhere else to clean this up, so she had to keep her strength.

"What the _hell_ is that?" came a strong voice from the crowd. Beast disliked the voice immediately, and even less when he appeared. He was the colour of blood and had bones hanging from around his neck, and had a band of other cruel looking weasels trailing behind him.  
Beast growled at him. She thought that the kit that was with her would run away in fright from her growl but instead, the brave little thing turned to face the red one, and backed up against Beasts foreleg.

"Leave it alone, Regal." The kit yelled in its little voice, and by Beast's guess, it was a girl.

"Get out, twerp," Regal snapped back, but the girl shook her head and pressed closer into Beast, who lowered her head in front of the girl to guard her from Regal. Regal stopped in his tracks, seeing the attitude of the creature before him.

"This must be that animal Buck had rushed to get Lucy for. Honestly, I thought he was just using an excuse to get her away from me."  
Beast snapped at him, not liking the attitude he had towards Buck, causing regal and his followers to jump back in surprise. Thankfully, Buck appeared with Lucy moments later. At the site of Regal, Buck's ears lowered and he said,

"Whatever you're doin', go away."

"Calm down Buckminster," Regal said with a smirk, "Just admiring you're new company. It's been worse for wear, hasn't it?"

"And still alive. Better than you will be in a minute." Beast said, and Regal's eyes widened in surprise. The little girl looked up at Beast with a whole new admiration, and Buck smirked.  
Lucy however, was rushing around Beast, once again inspecting the wounds. Her mouth twisted into an uncertain line, ignoring the fact that the small crowd that had gathered, was watching her intently. Even Regal had gone silent, but he was staring at Buck and Beast with contempt.

"Buck, how did it…?" Lucy asked quietly, and she seemed to be in shock.

"Dunno. Maybe the humidity? Or the fact tha' we arrived pretty late." Buck said.

"We need to get her to the stream." Lucy said, "You go ahead and tell Dwain to gather some of the river weeds."

"But-," Buck looked at Beast with concern.

"She'll be fine with me, for now, just go." Lucy pointed sternly up the canyon wall, and Buck quickly nodded and ran off, occasionally throwing looks over his shoulder.

"Lucy, no offense," Beast said, looking down at the blonde female, "but you have a terrible taste in males."  
Lucy threw a smile at Regal who was standing not so far away. "He's not that bad."

"But he's a meanie," said the kit girl, who was still clinging to Beast, who had forgotten she was there.

"No, he's just pretending." Lucy said, but Beast could hear the lie underneath. "Now run along. Beast doesn't need you clinging to her like that."

"I don't mind. I'm just worried that if I fall over she'll be crushed like a bug." Beast said with a tired smile. The kit seemed determined to stay with Beast, because she nodded with a 'humph,' at Lucy.

"Okay then. We might as well start up. I'm guessing you wouldn't want to take the long way to the stream?"  
Beast huffed with a smile, then raised once more to her legs.

"Regal, can you go get Oma and more healers?" Lucy asked, the turned and started walking next to Beast.

Beast took the canyon wall in her stride, scrambling and pushing herself up in huge bursts of energy, but when she reached the top, she was panting heavily and every part of her body was trembling.

"It's not too far now Beast," Lucy said confidently, "And then you can rest."  
Beast huffed, trying to save her energy for the rest of the journey.  
It only took them a few more minutes to get to the stream, and by then the other healers had caught up with Lucy, even Oma.

"I've gotten Buck and Dwain to collect some plants that we'll use to try and get rid of the infection. We'll have to cut these stitches out quickly," Lucy explained. Beast let her command the other healers, the young ones nodding, and Oma occasionally making a suggestion, while she herself simply limped along, and almost smiled with relief when she saw the stream glittering in the mid-morning sun that came through the ice roof. Beast looked up, admiring the beauty of the roof.  
And that's when she saw it. Sitting in the tree not so far away, was a featherless bird with the largest beak. Beast stopped in her tracks, and it took a moment for Lucy to realise that she had. Once she did, she turned and looked worriedly at Beast.

"What's wrong...?" Lucy asked, then followed Beast's astonished eyes.  
Beast looked from Lucy, to the creature, to Lucy, and back to the creature again. When the featherless bird squawked and leaped from the branch, Beast flinched away, then watched it flap away lazily.

"Yeah," Lucy said casually, "Buck wasn't lying, or insane. There really is dinosaurs."  
Beast shook her head, then continued on limping. The short shock had given her energy enough to reach the water, where Lucy picked a spot shallow enough for her to lay comfortably in the cool water. Beast hobbled to it, then fell so heavily that she caused a large wave that splashed everyone nearby.

Lucy shook herself out, then set the others to work. Buck and Dwain returned, and Buck lent his knife to her to cut the stitches out, while the others did the same with small work knives. After, they cleaned her whole body to get rid of any grime and dirt that could re-start the infection. After they cleaned her as much as they could, they then started filling the wounds with crushed herbs and healing plants.

Buck and Dwain stayed out of the way of the whole process, and sat on a rock nearby, watching the whole scene with concern. Beast only growled and yelped occasionally, from the sting of the paste they put on her wounds, but apart from that she barely moved. The water must have been cooling her down and making her feel better though, because her eyes were brighter and she seemed more awake. But Buck was still worried. Infections could get worse or come back, and with the extensive wounds Beast has, she might not make it through.

It took almost all day to get her re-patched, and some other weasels had come up to the stream for water or to collect food in the nearby trees, and were astonished at the sight of her.

"Did you ever ask her what she eats?" Dwain asked suddenly, and Buck frowned.

"No, actually. Why?"

"Well what if she eats weasel? And Otter?" from his tone, Dwain didn't seem too worried about it, and neither did Buck. There was plenty of fish in the streams and rivers, and she might even have the right teeth for getting through dino hide, but Buck wasn't too thrilled by that idea.

"I think she would quit eatin' weasel after this." Buck said.

"I dunno. Regal _can_ get really annoying, and with something that has Beasts temper, I'm not sure how safe he would be."  
This comment was well timed with Regals arrival, and Beast immediately growled in his direction, so he backed off and continued to the other side of the stream further down. Buck smiled at the sight.

"You may 'ave a point there."

Dwain nodded, then leaned back on his arms and said, "So what's she going to do down here? Has she anything to go back to?"  
Buck sighed. "I don' think so. She'll jus' have t' get used t' eatin' fish."

"Either that or have herself a weasel feast." Dwain and Buck laughed together, and waited for the healers to finish.  
Lucy came over to them wiping her paws of blood with a leaf when she was finished, and said, "We're going to have to move her to a dry spot. Preferably a sunny spot until tonight. Then we're going have to get her into a cave or something. Buck, do you know one nearby?"  
Buck pouted in thought. "Yeah, actually. Less of a cave, but it's a shelter beneath some rocks."

"That's good enough. But for now, help me get her moving. She's too comfy and being stubborn."  
Buck smiled and shook his head, then jumped down from the rock, then approached Beast.  
She smelled far better than she had that morning, and her fur seemed to glitter, despite its muddy colour.

"Come on Beast, time t' get up." Buck said, patting her shoulder suspended out of the water.  
She grunted and looked at him, and it was like looking into his own eye.

"Do as he says, or we'll poke your wounds." Dwain said, crossing his arms.  
Beast pulled back her lips into a silent snarl that also looked like a sneer, and Buck knew she was daring them to try.

"Move, or we'll kick sand in your eyes." Buck threatened, knowing that it would at least getting her moving if it had to come to that.  
She grunted with her ears flattened, but eventually she rose, stronger than she had the last couple of times she had. The water dripped from her fur in large droplets, and when she shook, everyone once again got soaked. Buck shook himself, and then waited for Beast to make her way up the bank. Lucy had again picked a spot for her to lay in, a hard-packed earth area that they'd laid large, soft leaves onto. Beast circled around until she was comfortable enough, curled up in the shade.

"You weirdo," Buck said, then a thought occurred to him. "Hey, wha' dya eat?"  
Beast seemed taken away by the question, then said, "Antelope mostly, but that's only because the young ones are slow. But I'll eat anything made of meat."  
Everyone around looked uncomfortable after that, but Buck said,

"Well, dya ea' fish?"  
Beast thought about it, then nodded. "Sure. Why?"

"You haven' eaten for two days. Are ya hungry?"  
Again, Beast paused, then nodded.

"Is I' safe for 'er t' eat Lucy?" Buck asked.

"Yeah, and it's probably a good idea."  
Buck moved to go to the stream, but Lucy grabbed his arm.

"It's okay, I can go get them with Dwain." She said with a smile.

"Lucy, you've done enough today."

"Well, I also need a bath real bad."  
Buck laughed, then said, "I'll go with you then. Be back in a minute with some food for ya."

Beast watched them walk off with a smirk. _Isn't that a lovely sight? Gods wonder why they aren't together, instead of that bloody red,_ Beast thought.

"You've strangely grown attached to that weasel where others would avoid him." Said an old voice, and Beast looked down to where her elbow lay, and a twisted, plump old weaselette stood there glaring up through shining eyes. _Oma._  
Beast shrugged at her comment. "He's grown more attached to _me_ while others would normally look the other way. I'm a twisted wolf-cat. Who would want to befriend something as freakish as me? Only the crazy ones."

"Do you have any idea what you are?" Oma asked.

Beast snorted a laugh. "No. I don't even think there's any other thing like Me."

Oma laughed. "Don't be silly. You're a hyena." Said the little old thing, and Beast blinked at her in surprise.

"I'm a what?"

"A hyena. I just wonder how you got all the way over here. The rest of your kind are far across the land."

"You mean… you mean you've seen others like me?" Beast asked.

"Of course." Oma smiled kindly.

"Huh." Beast looked towards where Buck and Lucy were diving in and out of the water, coming up with fish and throwing them onto the bank. _A hyena. Obviously Buck hasn't seen the before, or he would have told me.  
_  
"Have a good night Beast," Oma said, then tottered away.

"Hey wait!" Beast called, "you can't just..! What the hell is a hyena anyway?!"  
But the old weaselette just continued on her way, and Beast thought she heard chuckling. Beast flicked her tail in annoyance, then rested her head on her paws.  
When Buck and Lucy came back with the fish, Beast was quiet as she ate, feeling even better after she'd had a feed. But Oma's words were bothering her. She'd gotten used to not knowing what she was, but now she knew there was others like her, she wanted to know how she'd gotten where she was. _Oma said my kind were far across the land. Does that mean my parents were pirates?  
_  
Beast had seen pirates come to shore before, and some were friendlier than others, and a strange array of creatures, but never had she seen something resembling herself.

When Night finally started to approach, Buck flicked away a fish bone and said,

"You've been quiet Beast. What's up?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing, just tired I guess."

"Come on then, we'll ge' you t' that overhang then."

Getting Beast to the overhang was far easier than the past couple of movements, and she was clearly feeling better.  
She settled easily into the shelter, once again curling up.

"I'll check on you first thing in the morning." Lucy said, after she'd sniffed at Beast's wounds for the thousandth time.

"Thanks Lucy." Beast said quietly, then opened her maw to give a great yawn.

"It's fine. You're the most interesting thing that's fallen down here recently. It would be a shame to let you die."  
Beast nodded sleepily, and when Lucy walked out of the sheltered area, Beast lowered her head onto her paws.

"Mind if I sleep 'ere as well?" asked Buck.  
Beast lifted her neck a little in response, and Buck crawled over her leg and curled up underneath her neck again. For some reason, Buck felt this would become a habit.

"Night Beasty. Let's hope we don' have the same mornin' tomorrow as we did today, eh?"  
Beast hummed a laugh, hoping that very thing.


	4. Chapter 3 Flesh and Blood

_I'm BAAAAAAAACK! By the way, i haven't mentioned this for a while, but I don't own rudy or buck, all their things go to Bluesky studios. Anyway, enjoy. this isn't a particularly thrilling chapter, but hopefully the next one will be._

* * *

"You must be feelin' better." Buck said with a yawn.

"Much." Beast said as she shook the water out of her fur. "I think those healers did their job well."

"Yeah well if they didn', their pay should be cut." Buck munched into a bit of peach, leaning back on his other arm and looking at the trees around them.  
It was a warm day, and they'd been lounging on the rocks next to the stream all morning, eating fish and fruit. Beast had woken early that morning, feeling better than she had in ages. The stiches and patches in her sides hurt, but the infection had cleared up overnight. Lucy had checked it this morning and changed the rough dressings made from tree sap covered over with woven water reeds, and they stretched with Beasts' movements, allowing her to swim in the stream, and the sap was hardy enough so that it didn't come off from the water.

Beast was feeling better, but she looked a mess. She had large patches of fur that's been cut short to the skin, and her long fringe was a tangle. Buck had promised to comb it out later, and suggested cutting it back a bit.  
Beast came up onto the rocks, and laid down on her belly. In this heat, she'd usually roll onto her side, but she didn't want to get sand onto the patches, and it would hurt a little.

"By the way, I saw a dinosaur yesterday." Beast said, looking down at Buck.

Buck laughed, and said, "Ya believe me now?"

"No."  
Buck and Beast looked at each other with grins, and then they started to doze comfortably in the magnified sun from above the ice.

* * *

Later, Beast awoke from a scent carried on a cooling breeze. She sniffed again, and sneezed, as if trying to get the scent out. Soon after, Regal Red and Jeremy appeared across the Stream. They took a drink, then stared up at Beast. Beast felt her skin warm up under her fur with anger, and she pulled her lips back into a snarl. Regal pulled the finger at her, then wandered back into the jungle towards the village. Beast's tail was flicking in annoyance, and she was irritated long after Regal was gone. Buck woke when Beast accidently flicked him with her tail, and he sat up rubbing his eye.

"What's up?" he asked.

"That weasel." Beast growled. "Regal red. What's his problem anyway? He seems to have something big against you."

"Yeah, he's been hatin' me since we were kits. He killed my brother."

"What!?"

"Accidently o' course." Buck said casually, shrugging.  
Beast looked at him sceptically, but didn't say anything. Buck was still relatively a stranger to her, so she had to be careful how deep their conversations got. She'd have to eventually leave this place and make her own way in this strange world. She had no interest in once again going to the freezing tundra above, when the hunting down here would be easy if she chose right. She could not only eat fish, but the fruit down here was not only tolerable, but delectable, not like the harsh, tasteless fruits she'd occasionally have to scrounge on above.

Once again, Beast caught a scent on the breeze that had not been there before, but this time it was not one that made her cringe or lay her ears back in annoyance.  
Lucy appeared across the stream, with her blonde friend instead of her red boyfriend. At the sight of the two females, Buck waved with a smile. Noticing them, Lucy and the blonde hopped over the stones connecting the two shores over to them. Lucy approached with confidence, but the blonde hung back at the sight of Beast, eyeing her with concern.  
 _  
Maybe it's my tangled fringe,_ Beast thought, and was tempted to laugh quietly, but held it back instead.

"Hey Buck, Beast." Lucy said.

"Hi," Buck said cheerfully, "What ya up to?"  
Beast rolled her eyes. _We saw her only a couple of hours ago. Jeez what could have happened in that time? She became a super-weasel and is now living in a 5-star burrow?_

"We're just getting some more water for Oma. How are your cuts Beast?"

"No change. Hopefully it'll stay that way." Beast said with a toothy smile.

"Hopefully they start t' heal." Buck grumbled with humour.

"Who's your friend Lucy?" Beast asked.

"Oh," Lucy said, "This is Sasha. Sorry, I thought you'd know her. Clearly I'm already used to you being around. Sasha, come on."  
Sasha tried to look casual as she tentatively came over, but Beast could see it in her fur, her movements, her eyes… she could even _smell_ it on her. A fear that not many had on them while Beast was down here. Maybe it was her weakened state when the weasels saw her, or even their confidence in Buck, but they just didn't seem to think she was a threat. Sasha was the first.

"I don't bite weasels." Beast said with a smile, "They have a tendency to bite back."  
Sasha managed a timid smile. "I've just never seen something like you before. I wasn't sure if…"

"If I was dangerous." Beast said with a nod. "Even if I was normally, I wouldn't be much of a threat in this state."  
Sasha seemed to relax at this.

"What do you plan on doing after you're healed? Is Buck going to take you back?" Sasha asked.  
Beast shook her head. "I'll just stay down here, travelling around to see if there's anywhere I like in particular."

"What abou' the dinosaurs an' such?" Buck asked with a grin, throwing his knife into the air and catching it.

"They don't really bother me. There's man above ground, and they're far more annoying." Beast growled, thinking about all the damage they had done in the past. _Maybe my parents were killed by men._

"Urgh, with the way they dress in dead animal skins?" Sasha shivered at the thought.

"And how they sometimes make that loud noise when they sleep?" Lucy made an imitation of a snore, which very few animals did, and it was mostly if they were sick or too fat.

"And even worse when they occasionally abandon their kids 'cause it's sick or somethin'." Buck spat, disgusted.

"Point is, they're back there and I'm down here. Besides, it's bloody cold above ground." Beast said.

"I can tell ya where all th' dangerous spots are if ya wan', so ya can avoid 'em." Buck said.  
Beast laughed a little. "Where's the fun in that? I'll figure it out as I go."  
Sasha and Lucy looked at each other for a moments, and then started laughing. Laughing very extremely loudly for an extended, almost ridiculous amount of time. Buck frowned and looked at Beast, who shrugged, just as confused as her one-eyed friend.

"What are you two crackin' up abou'?" Buck asked. That only made them laugh harder. After they managed to recover a bit, Lucy, chuckling while she did, explained.

"You do know who you sounded like, right?"  
Beast and Buck once again looked at each other, and grinned.

"Crazy and crazy seem to go together." Sasha said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One month later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucy removed the last of the patches, and then stood back to admire her work.  
Beast turned around on the spot, her tail flicking every now and then, happily.

"You've completely healed now. You'll have some serious scarring, but for some reason, I don't think that's going to bother you." Lucy said with a smile, and Beast nodded, too stunned and happy to say anything. She had lost almost all of her winter coat, and now had a shorter, sleeker coat, and Buck had cut her fringe . Standing in the sunlight, she looked extremely healthy, helped by her good mood.

"How dya feel?" Buck asked, pacing around her to inspect how much better she looked.

"Almost like my old self. Actually," Beast ran towards a tree, and at the last second, leaped upwards, then kicked off the trunk and landed gracefully, "I feel better than I have for years. Thanks again, Lucy."

"No problem." Lucy gathered up the remaining healing equipment, said her goodbyes, and made her way back to the village.  
Beast, who was still running around, was ecstatic about finally healing.

"Now I can go have a good look around this place." She said, already thinking about all the cool places she could go running, or hunting, or sleeping or swimming…there was endless possibilities.

"Ya have t' remember what Lucy said about yer muscles. Don'-,"

"Break them in too fast. Yeah I know, I know. Don't do anything too fast because I've been lying around and my muscles have deteriorated and blah blah blah. I'll be fine."

"Ya wan' me t' come with ya?" Buck asked. It was up to her, but secretly he'd prefer to go with her. They'd grown close over the weeks she'd been healing, and he didn't want her getting herself killed or hurt again. Besides, he wanted to see how fun it would be to go adventuring with her. Beast was very much like him. Possibly a little easier to anger, and very much a sarcastic being, but in terms of values and idea, they were quite similar.

"Um, maybe next time." Beast said, looking a little guilty. "I think I just want to test this place out for myself first. You never know, maybe I'll find somewhere that even _you_ haven't gone."

"Well now I _have_ t' come with you." Buck said.

"No way. You're not going to take the credit for anywhere that _I_ found."

"Do I get t' name it?"

"Nope." Beast shook herself out again, then turned and started to make her way into the jungle. Buck followed her for a while.

"Can I get a bit o' credit for it?" Buck asked.

"Not a chance."

"You'd be dead withou' me an' Lucy! We at least ge' to have a claim."

"Then talk to Lucy about it, but otherwise, seeya later."

"But-,"

" _Goodbye_ Buck." Beast laughed.  
Buck stopped on top of a mossy rock, and watched Beast's spotted hide continue down the path and out of sight. Buck sighed, and stayed on the rock long after she was gone, pondering at how strange it was without her around. He had grown so used to her company, and he was still worried about her getting hurt, or maybe even lost.  
 _  
No, stop worrying you idiot. She's gonna be fine._  
Even so, Buck considered following her. It took him a while to decide against it, eventually just shaking his head at himself with a smile. He needed a distraction, just like whenever he felt a bit off.  
 _  
She's gone east, so I'll go west. I haven't been that way for a while,_ Buck thought. He usually didn't go that way because there was only a narrow path that large dinosaurs could get through large jagged mountain ranges, named Crags Ranges, so Rudy only went that way for the mating season in the grassy valleys beyond. And Buck didn't usually bother him during mating seasons. He didn't want to make the big guy look bad in front of the ladies, did he? Being beaten by a weasel must be humiliating as it is, but doing it in front of potential mates would be infuriating, and unfair. Buck hoped that some of Rudy's offspring would come this way one day, so they could test their tempers and skills at trying to get Buck, like their permanently pestered father. So, making sure Rudy had a fair go at the fights against other Baryonyx males was all Buck could do.

But the Crags were a good idea. Usually infested with raptors or other biped dinosaurs that could manage the very steep and difficult terrain, the place was usually filled with small but exciting dangers. Small waterfalls that sprang from the sides of the mountains fed the soil all along the sides, so the vegetation was thick and luscious. But, this also meant the plants had additions to them that were a little dangerous. Usually they were just toxic fruits or vines that would move overnight and strange something warm. Dangerous, but lazy. . Of course it wasn't as treacherous bloody Canine Mountain ranges, or the jungle of Misery with its extra-temperamental plants but it did have its fun little irks.

The waterfalls running from the mountain all met and converged as streams at the bottom, which then flowed into the biggest river Buck had ever come across, The Silver-Streak. It continued west to those mating plains, and then became huge lakes which the females nested around. After they've hatched their eggs, they'd all head back to their original territories, including Mamma T-rex who came back to Lava falls.

So Buck's only choice for a little danger was to annoy as many raptors as he could on the Crags. Each species had its own areas and clans that had very strict borders, so making one species trespass into another's territory, there would be civil wars this way and that. Buck smiled at the thought. Maybe that particularly big one he fought sometimes was back. The one with the huge scar down his side from Buck's knife.

Unlike other raptors, that one, and two or three of his comrades and mates, travelled over the whole Dino world. Buck ran into them again and again, and Buck had pinned the reasoning down to the fact that sometimes food must get scarce on his part of the mountain.  
Buck, a couple of years ago, had checked it out. Turns out this big raptor had the worst spot on those mountains, where there was barely any jungle and little water, so prey rarely ventured into the dangerous rocky grounds. No wonder this particular raptor was permanently crabby.

So, west it was.

The day was still early, so he'd go and say goodbye to Lucy, then make his way along. There was a swamp on the way, and a small desert and a jagged rocky plain and a dead lands where the very ground burnt the fur off your ass, and further on was a river with crocodiles _and_ piranhas in it.  
 _How boring,_ Buck thought with a groan. _I hope Beast doesn't find something too exciting to do. It would be sad if she came back with great stories and I didn't come back with barely any at all._


	5. THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER

Hey guys! I'm putting up this post because I keep getting these 'reveiws' which are actually just a link to a petition for Buck to get his own movie.  
SERIOUSLY! I HAVE ALREADY SIGNED IT! STOP SENDING THIS TO ME!  
I appreciated the first one but when it's sent to me 9 TIMES! And I have sent it to the people I believe would be interested so I beg you, stop spamming me with this link okay?  
Sorry but it's just annoying where I go to check my email and I go 'oooo a reveiw' and it's not. so stop. please.


	6. Chapter 4 Feast for ferals

_Hey sorry dudes that this was had taken so long, but obviously i was working on the other one, and I've been with family and getting my ear peirced and watching MOANA! Which oh my f****** god was sooooo goooooood. I'm 16 and i made my aunty take me and my two little cousins to go see it and I was way more excited than they were it was so funny. I definetely recommend. Better than frozen and tangled and almost as good as lion King no joke.  
_

* * *

Buck, of course, would have no idea that Beast would quickly find herself immersed in adventure, whether she was to like it or not. She hadn't been expecting to find it so soon, much less in such a big dosage. She was thrown in the deep end you might say.  
More or less literally.  
Let's rewind to only a few hours after Buck and Beast said goodbye, but not forever I assure you.

* * *

Beast wandered through the jungle with care. She had never been this far from the village before, and if Buck said was true, she'd be coming into the territory of a few nasty reptiles.

Despite Buck being worried, undoubtedly, Beast had told the truth about feeling better than she had in a long time. This world felt like nowhere else had before.  
Home.

Beast took the smallest paths she could find through the jungle, being careful where she put her paws. How could a place so beautiful be so dangerous? The plants themselves were deadly, perhaps more deadly than the dinosaurs because of their trickery, jokers amongst the crowd but without the face paint.  
Beast at first had been wandering East, but soon turned North east. The trip calmed her, and she at first was bothered because she thought it was too quiet. But no. It wasn't unnaturally quiet. It was just the lack of Buck. Either they were talking, or making noise somehow. And when they weren't, they were asleep.

The sounds of the jungle calmed her, now familiar to her. In the first week, she jumped at every rustle, and bristled at every dinosaur call that sounded dangerously close. Now though, very little about this world bothered her, and it was a blessing compared to the above-ground world.  
Soon however, Beast found herself getting hungry, which was not a rare occurrence. Beast often found herself hungry, more often than she'd like. She never considered eating the weasels or other mammals of the village, but she did miss the red meat of the above-ground on occasion. This world may have been better as a whole, but there would always be drawbacks.

Instead of looking for a river or trying to get some fruit, she took this opportunity to scavenge. She knew Buck would never like her eating dinosaurs, alive or dead, so she had decided within the first week of being there that she wouldn't eat them.

If Buck was around, that is.

Now that he wasn't with her, she could find some meat.

But of course there were drawbacks to this too.

She wouldn't be the only scavenger in the dino world, and other dinosaurs may be faster than her to the kill. It was a precarious situation she had faced in the other world as well, but those creatures picked on someone their size, because size hadn't varied nearly as much up there as it did down there.

And she was solitary. They wouldn't be.

Beast tried to think of sneaky ways to get some food off of a carcass, but the only thing that came to mind was the classic snatch and run. Beast decided that was the only way she could pull it off.

Beast took a drink from a tiny stream that trickled between some rocks where ferns sat leisurely. She considered staying for a while, and just relaxing, but her stomach argued, and kept her going forward.

It took hours and hours, and finally she came across knew territory. The trees seemed to thin and shorten, then they shortened and thinned more, and then more. Soon there was rocky lands with shrubs and tall yellowed grass and prickly plants.  
There was lots of ridges, rising to well over Beasts head, rocky and painful looking, but Beast took note of the area. She felt familiar in this kind of terrain, like it had many advantages. Beast couldn't climb trees most of the time, and that left her with very few escape options if she found herself in trouble in the jungle. But these rocky ridges would lame anything that did not have particularly hardened feet, and Beast thankfully had exactly that. Her paw pads had been hardened to the point where they very rarely got cut or injured, so this area would be a good escape plan if need be. She would have to get there, however, and that might take more than an hour if she was running.

Another plan she came up with was heading to water. Not many dinosaurs could swim, but instead wallowed in the waters shallows or were big enough to stand in the deep end easily. Others however, would not be able to.

Beast could swim very well, and if she found lakes deep enough, she would be able to escape anything like raptors that came after her.

These kind of thoughts went through Beasts head as she made her way along. Future planning to avoid danger. She'd never been able to do it in the other world. She was always moving around, had very rarely gone back to the same place twice. But here. She could map the whole area and know all its secrets, just like Buck did.  
She could see the sense in that. Having a level of familiarity was strange to her, but she knew it would grow. She would just have to adventure a lot. Just like Buck.  
Buck's way of life seemed like the best to her, except she didn't have a crush on anyone, which would disturb her life. Buck however was clearly not as lucky.  
 _  
It doesn't even seem like a crush,_ Beast thought, _it seems like something deeper, what he feels for her…_

Beast had watched Buck watch Lucy, and she never was able to comprehend his expression. He seemed calm, and yet excited at the same time.

But more notably, he seemed sane.

No nonsense came out of his mouth and no surprising jumps to action.

Beast could tell the difference even more when Lucy actually came to talk to them. He was _trying._ Actually trying not be insane. His laughs were more even and he didn't laugh too much unless something really really _really_ funny happened, while she was in the vicinity. Which was rare.

His movements were smoother.

His expression more even.

Beast hadn't said anything yet, but she intended too. Mainly to tease him childishly, cooing and rolling her eyes. She wondered what it was like to get him drunk. He'd probably really open up, and that would probably be hilarious. Beast had seen animals get drunk before on too-ripe fruit. Mostly pirates who did it on purpose. She had avoided it herself because she had no friends to get drunk with, but now, in the best of ways, things had changed.

Beast went through the shrub land, and noticed the sun was dipping lower without her knowing.

If this world was anything like the other one, this would be when the scavengers started to come out.

Soon, when the world turned red with the sun was gripping on the edge of the raised horizon, Beast came across the end of the shrubby and rocky land.  
It merged easily and comfortably into plains. Plains that stretched. Stretched, and stretched more and just a little bit more to the point where the only sign of it ending was only a dark thin line.

And dinosaurs!

Dinosaurs all over them!

Herbivores of every size were munching on the grass, which changed from brown and spindly, where Beast was standing, to green and lush, further along. It was every carnivore's dream.

And corpses!

Corpses everywhere!

Well, maybe not everywhere, and some of them were probably just sleeping dinosaurs, but there was certainly some that attracted the scavengers. It was every scavenger's dream.

Beast stayed where she was, hiding among the grass, trying to determine which corpse was safest to take from. The closest one certainly wasn't. that had so many scavengers that Beast couldn't tell the difference between the alive flesh and the dead.

The other one further on, however, seemed to only have a few. Clearly the scavengers were thinking alike. Stay close to the jungle in case you need to run.  
Beast made her way into the plains. The grass reached her shoulder, so she moved her head to a point where she could still see the corpse, but hopefully wouldn't be noticed by anything that felt like a furry creature today.

She had to pass uncomfortably close to a few dinosaurs every now and then, but none of them bothered her, and she didn't startle them.  
That was another danger of plains that Beast knew of. If you started a herbivore, it startled the next one over, and so on and so on until you had the worst way to die. Stampede. And dinosaurs? Stampeding creatures that weighed well over ten tons? A quicker death by stampede, but no less terrifying.

Beast managed to make it to the dead dinosaur without any trouble. That was part one. Part two, however, was a toss-up. You could never predict the attitude of a scavenger. Some were so busy or determined on eating that they either didn't notice or didn't care about other scavengers such as herself. On the other hand though, they may have enough energy and determination to try fight her off.

So Beast approached slowly. If she had a pack like these guys would, then she would have been able to scare them off, -they were only small bastards-, but alas, she did not, and had no other choice but to be the lowest of the low.

She crawled in until her nose touched the gloriously smelling meat. Everything about it made her mouth water. Fish was fine, but this? This was heavenly.  
She must have been lucky, because the raptors and pterosaurs took no notice of her. some peered, as if trying to decide whether fluffy meant she was worthy enough to eat with them, or stared as if trying to determine what she was.  
 _  
Good luck with that guys. I had the same struggle most of my life,_ Beast thought with a huff.

And that was her final thought for the rest of the day and most of the evening. She burrowed into the corpse with her teeth, and nothing had felt this good in a very long time.

With the help of the other creatures which were feasting just as much as she was, the corpse was almost gone by morning.

As the flesh started to completely disappear, so did the scavengers.

A couple had tried getting to the scraps Beast was finishing, but had quickly been deterred. They weren't hungry enough to really fight her off. Not long before day break, the last had decided they were full enough. Beast watched with a smile as the last raptors started to wander off with a sway that only a full belly could cause.  
Her own meat had completely disappeared.

But there was more.

So much more.

As soon as the reptiles were out of her sight, she chose the thinnest bones on the corpse, of which there were few, and still were as thick as Beast's leg. At these, she started to gnaw away at the bones. Her teeth scraped against the freshly picked bones and cracks started to appear in the white.

Just as the world was starting to lighten, Beast had reduced the bone count considerably.

And she, for the first time, was full on red meat. Never in her life had she been able to eat that much red meat. She lounged under the rib-cage of the dead body, relaxing, and waiting for her belly to digest the goods inside, which of course had swollen with food.

As soon as the sounds of dawn from the jungle sifted into the air, Beast decided it was time to go. She was full and slow, which made her an easier target. She was safest to get back to the jungle.  
She stood and stretched, yawning exceptionally wide, and made her way back. Nothing followed her. And nothing dangerous, just yet, laid ahead.  
But things would change soon enough.

Beast had managed to find a rocky area, only a few metres across, raised on the ground and surrounded by sharp brambles. Now that it was daytime, it was unlikely something would try sneak up on her, and even if they did, they would have to go through the thorny bushes which rustled loudly with every movement. Her tough skin kept the thorns out, but she had to tug herself away from the tangles a few times. When she did, she stretched herself out on the rock, yawned once more, and then flopped onto her side to sleep.

She didn't dream, just laid heavily in the heat, her body trying to process the amount of food, and the kind, that she had just taken in. It was only a few hours however, before her sleep was strangled and wakefulness came upon her. She stirred slowly, feeling her mind wanting to return to sleep. She then registered the next rustle of the shrubs, and she blinked, sitting up quickly.

The rustles, at first, were coming from straight ahead of her, and her hackles rose. A second creature however started moving to her left, and she stood in surprise. When a third area started rustling, she started to get angry, and growled. The movements stopped for a few moments, obviously trying to decide what kind of threat the growl posed. But she must not have been intimidating enough, and the intruders figured three could take on one, and started coming towards her again. She could see them just yet, but she knew they were coming. She thanked her past self for thinking of the idea, but now she had to figure out how to get out. She couldn't use tricks, she had no way to make traps without Buck's help. He had the opposable thumbs, not her.

She would just have to fight her way past them until she could run clear. She wouldn't beat them in the long run, but she could maybe startle them enough, and make it to a body of water. The rocky lands were too far away, which would have been preferable, but Beast knew a river curved around the edge of those plains that she had feasted at.

Beast shook herself out, and waited.  
then she saw it, a scaly green nose thrashing the brambles aside. They must have smelt the blood on Beasts muzzle from eating the carcass and thought she was injured. They'd attack thinking she wouldn't be too hard to bring down. They would be right about that of course, but she could still give them a scare. As the snout got closer, she soon saw two eyes through the branches, and it spotted her too. It stared hungrily, even as Beast lowered her head and growled louder than before. It then proceeded to thrash faster. At this, Beast gave out a high-pitch sound, similar to a whine but far more violent, swinging her head side to side to see if the other raptors were close. Her ears were so far against her skull that it abstracted her hearing.

She had to move now or she'd be trapped even more. She couldn't just climb carefully out on account of avoiding injury from the thorns, so she would just have to suck it up and jump from where she was. She was thankful that she had an extended jump.

Before she panicked and chickened out, Beast jumped. She gave herself a few steps of a run up, then launched off the edge of the rocky spot. She only just cleared the Raptor in front, the one closest to her, and landed amongst the bushes, yelping as the thorns tangled in her fur and pulled on it. They also blocked her landing, so she tripped and rolled, but quickly rose and started running, despite the bushes snagging on her.  
It wasn't long however before she cleared the bushes and came to shrubby lands with short grass and very little vines. She didn't look back, but it again wasn't long before she heard the clicking of their claws and angry hisses.

Beast went to jump over a strange looking log, but it moved. She gave a yelp as she collided with the side of a large herbivore. She landed on the ground and scrambled to her feet as she saw the raptors approaching.  
She slipped under the belly of the herbivore, and almost stopped in shock.

On the pathway was large herbivore after large herbivore before her, using the large pathway to graze at the trees and plants with plenty of room to move. Beast considered running deeper into the jungle as she ran on, but realised this would be an advantage. She had to dodge dinosaurs, but so would the hunters, and it might buy her enough time to find the river. She guessed this was just one of the popular highways that led onto the plains, and it would only be so wide. She knew there would be an end and that it would be soon…maybe…she hoped…

She had to watch herself amongst the moving masses of muscles and mayhem, to avoid being crushed to death. She became more determined to live when she heard a scream-like screech from behind which was quickly cut off, which made her fur bristle on her neck. In a short space of distraction, Beast looked back when she heard another screech, and in consequence she got knocked to the side painfully by a tail. Beast rolled until her body stopped as it bashed against a tree. This time she knocked her head, and for a moments everything went black. White dots then sprinkled and twinkled across her eyes. But she knew if she didn't get up quickly she soon wouldn't get up at all, which became more apparent when she saw the scarred raptor was trying to make his way past a grumpy family of triceratops. He hissed and jumped back from them as they swung their heads back and forth, their horns occasionally scraping against the ground as they tried to warn the predator off.

Beast blinked wildly to clear her head as much as she could before she stood, then started running again.  
This time nothing hit her. this time nothing bashed her or bruised her or buried her beneath their feet.  
But she felt something try to bite her tail, and telling by the violent screech behind her, the raptor had somehow caught up. Beast yelped, then growled, trying not to turn around. And then there was there saving grace. A collection of rocks stood before her, and she may not have even known the river was there if there were not reflections off the rocks, tell-tale sign of water.

Beast pushed her muscles for one last go, aiming for the rocks. Once she felt the soft earth turn hard, and could no longer see the rock, she leaped in a very similar fashion as before. She hit the water as if it were a comfort compared to being bashed into a tree by a tail. She managed to not suck in any water, and then kicked herself to the surface. Once there, she was carried away by the current. The large raptor stepped as if he was going to follow her, but must have decided against it, and she watched him slink away as the current, (calm but still moving) pushed her slowly down stream. She only floated for a little while before she swam to the opposite bank, and pulled herself up.

Only then did she realize how tired she was. She was breathing heavily, her muscles hurt and her stomach felt as if she was going to be sick. She tried her hardest to hold it in, and eventually her stomach calmed itself. Beast found a rock along the shore and flopped down onto it, resting and trying to dry herself out.  
"Well…." She groaned to herself, "That was fun."

* * *

 _More of this stuff later guys, Hope you enjoyed._


	7. Not a Chapter

I'm really sorry guys, but I think I've got to take this one down. It's just reaaaaally hard to go back to the very beginning and have to rewrite the whole thing with Beast as an addition. SO! Recently I got a new idea about writing Beast into _another_ story of Buck, which is not part of the Wild Family stories (soon to be a trilogy), which is set after Ice Age 5. Lucy, Jai, Calamity and the rest will NOT be in this story, rather, they are part of a different world with the same guy. Basically Writing Beast into the stories at the same place, time and context as the Wild family, the Rusty Red and the wars against the Tyrants and the Accused, just is not working.

To give you a preview before I take this one down, the new one will be where Buck is living with the herd with his pumpkin daughter Bronwyn. While the herd is travelling through strange land on their way to visit Peaches and Julian, they cross into a valley unknown to them, and hear the whoops of creatures they haven't seen before, except for Buck.

The Hyena's appear, go to attack the family, but after Buck recognizes the matriarchal female as his old friend Beast, he stops the fight and reunites with his old family, who he thought had been consumed by a fire and that same fire is what Beast had killed Buck.

Hope you guys are looking forward to it because I sure as hell am.

Buck will have a completely different past in this story. It will feel weird to me, and not right, to be writing about Buck with the herd and I know it. I have been writing about the Wild family and the under-grouders for so long that I have made this own little world in my mind and heart. It will always be my favourite story, but Beast just doesn't fit in here, and I need to make something completely different, just to add her in. The reason she exists is that she represents me hanging out with Buck after all.

This story will not have sequels, but maybe i'll add side stories in with Buck and Beast living in the Wild family world like they are in Wishes, Dreams and Nightmares, but I'll let you know if they are. I might just make a collection of short stories and add to them as i go because why the hell not, anyway.

I will see you guys soon.


End file.
